There was a mirrored set reflecting infinity at the Christian Dior show, and a voice intoning “Time, time, time” on the soundtrack. What did it signify—the past on the left, the endless permanence of the brand’s future on the right? Or, more pertinently, that the collection passing through is but another soon-to-be-forgotten fleeting moment in Dior’s history? As everyone knows, the task of keeping Dior warm between the exit of Raf Simons and the hiring of a new creative director has been undertaken by the brand’s studio team.

Within those parameters, studio heads Lucie Meier and Serge Ruffieux did quite a decent placeholder job, which skewed rather refreshingly younger and less uptight than before. There was a lot of black suiting, with slit, high-waisted pencil skirts and softer jackets worn as a young girl might, with pointy silver and black low Mary Janes. With their hair tightly coiled into buns and ears studded with safety pins and other jingle-jangles, the models walked easily and briskly, many in coats with deep flounces in the hem. There were also cocktail dresses with swathed necklines, scattered with random, vintage-y settings of colored gems.

Truth be told, after that, a meandering feeling took over—the coats kept coming back, the suits and dresses kept reappearing, and there was never much sense of a finale. Still, it wouldn’t be fair to dismiss this joint effort without mentioning one surprise—the Dior knits. Somebody on the team had come up with some interesting, fashion-forward shapes—one with a strong black flounce running into a V and a high neckline, another in shocking orange with leg-of-mutton sleeves, and a couple of others with paisley patterns. Next season will probably be another story, once a new creative director is found, but those who’ve been holding the fort since Raf Simons quit have not disgraced the house.